britten



Febo 17. 1931 E. F. BRITTEN, JR

CALCULATING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZU UEIIT'QV- 67 73/117201 Filed March 23, 1929 Filed March 25, 192.9 4 Shets-Sheet 5 Unvemor /u'itten ffmmey Feb. 17, 1931.

E. F. BRIT TEN, JR

CALCULATING MACHINE Filed March 23, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Feb. 17, 1931 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE EDWIN IE. BRITTEN, JR., MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, .ASSIGNOB T0 MONROE CALCU- LATING MACHINE COMPANY, on ORANGE, NEW

WARE

JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF DELA- CALCULATING MACHINE Application filed March 23, 1929. Serial No. 349,449.

,difierent numeral wheels.

According to the invention, two relatively reverslble serles of digit selector members are adjusted for differential action. by a common.

'- setting-upmechanism, the invention consisttion of ing in the novel construction and combinaparts, as set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention;

Fig. 1 is a plan view. of a calculating machine embodying the invention in one form;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the keyboard mechanism, with parts broken away;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4'4 of Fig. 1; v

Fig. 5 is a detail front elevation of the reversing mechanism for the lefthand actuator set.

The selector mechanism illustrated in these drawings is a modification of that disclosed in United States patent to E. E. Phinney Number 1,399,652, issued December 6, 1921 and entitled Setting-up means for calculating machine. Numerous features of the motor-driven machine herein illustrated are disclosed in co-pending application Serial No. 337,073, filed February 2,1929 by E. F. Britten, J r., and entitled .Registering mechanism.

According to the form of the invention illustrated herein, two series of numeral wheels 13 and 33 are mounted on a shaft 34 extending longitudinally on the carriage 2. Amounts to be registered in the wheels 13 and 33 are set up on keyboards 18 and 35, the keys of which are each de ressible to adjust a pair of rock bars 19 as fu 1y disclosed in the Phinney patent hereinbefore referred to. Each pair of rock bars 19 transmit the setting to a pair of selector ears 5, wherefrom the amounts are trans erred to the wheels 13' or the related carry shaft 73 or 36.

I The rock bars 19 are provided with lower extensions with which connector plates 37 are adapted to engage, these plates serving to connect each column of keys of the keyboard 18 with rock bars 19 of corresponding columns of the keyboard 35. As will be noted upon inspection of Figure 2, while the connector'plates serve to transmit movement from the rock bars 19 of the keyboard 18 to the rock bars of keyboard 35, they are so arranged that setting movement of a key of the keyboard 35 will have no effect upon the rock bars 19 of the keyboard 18.

The connector plates 37 are mounted on a frame 38 and means are provided for raising and lowering the frame 38 tovactive or inactive position, such means including a shift lever 39 and spring slick device 40. The connector plates 37 may remain in engagement with the rock bars 19 of the one keyboard, while the engaging portions of the plates related to the rock bars of the other keyboard may be beveled, so that if any of the related keys are in depressed position when the connector plates are raised into engagement, the plates will be cammed into full engaging position.

As illustrated in the co-pending applica tion hereinbefore referred to, and in accordance with the well-known Monroe calculating machine, the selector and carry shafts related to the keyboard 18 may be rotated to transfer the set-up amounts to the numeral Wheels 13 by means of a hand crank 3 or an electric motor A, clutch and reverse gear mechanism being provided between the motor and carry shaft 73. Crank handle 3 is rotated in one direction in calculations of addition and multiplication, and in a reverse direction for 73 disconnected, and in this position of the parts, no registration will occur on numeral wheels 33. Movement of lever 42 from neutral position in one direction will couple the shafts 36 and 73 for rotation in unison, while movement of said lever from neutral position in the opposite direction will connect shafts 36 and 73 by means of reversing gearingl, so that forward or reverse rotation of shaft 73will be transmitted as renrse or forward rotation of shaft 36, whereby an amount set up on one of the keyboards will be registered additively and an amount set up on the other keyboard will be simultaneously registered subtractively, or vice versa.

Suitable multiplier and quotient registers 85 and 88 may be provided as shown in the Britten application. and one of these registers may be provided with tens carry mechanism and reversing gearing, under the control of change lever 399, as therein fully disclosed. The registration wheels 13, 33, 85, and 88, may be set to Zero registering position by means of one or more clearingdevices 409, and levers 418 may control the clearing or non-clearing of any selected series.

5 The keyboard clearing and repeat-nonrepeat mechanism disclosed in the Britten application is applied to the keyboard 18, and is duplicated for the keyboard Owing, however, tothe connector plates 37, this hand and automatic clearing means enables certain new methods of operation to be used.

" According to this arrangement, clear keys 12 and 4L3 are provided, depression of either of these keys serving to depress the O rays of the related keyboard, and thereby torock locking bails 6 and release any other keys of-such keyboard which may be in depressed position; l Vhen either non-repeat key is set, rotation of the machine will serve to actuate a universal clear-out bar 23 engaging the locking bails 6 of the related keyboard and I acting to release any depressed keys thereof.

If an amount were set up in the three right-hand columns of keyboard 18, for instance, with the connector plates 37 1n actlve position, the same setting would be made on the three right-hand selector columns of the keyboard 35. I set on the three left-hand columns of keyboard 35, and the machine were operated, the

, right-hand setting would be registered in numeral wheels 13 and in numeral wheels 33,

while the left-hand. setting would be registered in the other numeral wheels 33 only. A new amount might now be set in the three left-hand columns of the keyboard 35, or, if

the clear key 43 were depressed, the setting in the three left-hand columns may be cleared without interference with the setting in the right-hand columns of either keyboard.

The last described operation is possible because the setting in the righthand columns of keyboard 35 are controlled by the keys of It, now, another amount were i the keyboard 18, such keys not being released upon operation of the clear key '13. If, in the operation above described, the letthan'd nonrepeat key had been set, the amount set, up in the left-hand columns would have been cleared automatically without disturbing the setting in the right-hand columns.

From the foregoing it will be evident that keyboard 18 is a master keyboard wherefrom settings may be made in the auxiliary selector mechanism related to keyboard 35, such settings being entirely independent of the control means related to the auxiliary keyboard. The selector mechanism of the master keyboard will respond correctly to the additive and subtractive rotations indicated by the different operation control members 120, 121, 261, and 318, while the selector members related to the auxiliary keyboard 35 may not so respond.

I claim:

1. In a calculating machine having two series of numeral wheels and two series of differential selector members related each to a series of wheels; two laterally aligned, series of laterally adjustable column settingmembers related each to a series of selectors, slide bars adjustable to connect the corresponding setting members of each series to act in unison, and means for reversing the operation of one series of selector members relative to the operation of theother series.

2. Settable digit selecting means for calculating machines having a plurality of ordinal setting members and unitary means for releasing the selecting means in a plurality of orders from set position; master means adjustable to active position and adapted to set the selecting means of any selected orders and to maintain such setting upon operation of said releasing means, means for holding said master means as adjusted, and unitary means for releasing the selecting means from such master setting with the master means held in active position.

3. Settable digit selecting means for calculating machines having a plurality of ordinal setting members and unitary means including a manually operable clear key for releasing the selecting means in a plurality of orders from set position; master means adjustable to active position and adapted to set setting the selecting means of any selected or ders and for maintaining such setting upon operation of said non-repeat mechanism.

5. In a calculating machine having two series of numeral Wheels, two series of difi'erential selector members related each to a series of Wheels, two series of column setting members relatedv each to a series of selectors, means for holding the column setting men1- 10 bers of one series in adjusted position, and

means for connecting the corresponding set ting members of each series to act in unison; means for releasing the setting members from the connecting means, operable to release the setting members of one series from adjusted position.

6. In a calculating machine having two series of numeral Wheels, two series of difierential selector members related each to a series of Wheels, two series of column setting members related each to a series of selectors, means for holding the column setting members of one series in adjusted position, and means for connecting the corresponding set- 25 ting members of each series to act in unison; means for adjusting the connecting means from inactive to active position, adapted to cooperate With the holding means to adjust the setting members of one series to corre- 0 spond to the adjusted position of the related members of the other series.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature,

EDWIN F. BRITTEN, JR. 

